Create x3

{Organizing} the New Memory Box Dies!

**Update--Be sure to see Dave's blog post here for your chance to win some dies!**

So, have you see the new AMAZING Memory Box dies?  Oh goodness, if you haven't you must look here.  :)  Now, I love dies but organizing them can be difficult at times. I use the Quickutz folders for some of my other dies but I really do not want to buy any more of them since they are expensive. So, today I want to show how I have organized these new, amazing Memory Box dies!

I ended up using the 3-ring binder method that I am sure you have seen zillions of people use. I think I am really, really going to like this for my dies. Let's look at what I did which I am sure it is close to most other 3-ring binder methods out there except maybe a few changes. :)

Supplies
Here is what I used:

**Keep Filing ring binders (letter size, 8 1/2" x 11")
**Roll of 1/2" magnets
**Sturdy black cardstock (2 pieces of Memory Box licorice taped together works GREAT)
**Page protectors (heavy weight)
**Labeler

I really like the black cardstock because you don't see the magnets. I think a lot of other people use white cardstock, and I personally like the magnet to be "hidden." :)

Putting it Together
When I first got my dies, I separated them by category. The categories I am currently using are:

**Animals
**Borders
**Circles
**Labels and Pockets
**Garden

Next I put two magnet strips on each piece of black cardstock and placed the dies for each category on a separate sheet. Then I put a label with the die name next to the die on the black cardstock.  Once the sheet was done, I put it down in the page protector. Notice how the magnets are hard to see on the black cardstock. Love that!

I also used the new Memory Box Double Ticket die to create my category tags at the top of each page.  I used the smallest ticket on the die and scored it at 3/4". Works perfectly!

I also typed up a die inventory in Excel since I know the names of a lot of the dies. It will be easier to look at the inventory and look up the page number where the die is so that I can quickly find what I am looking for. This inventory can be sorted by die name, category, or page. I printed it on white cardstock and placed it in the front of my binder.

In creating this new binder, I have noticed that 5 pages in the binder take up a LOT LESS room than 5 Quickutz binders. I love that!  Enjoy your Friday, and I pray this is helpful!  And remember, you can see all of the newest Memory Box dies just released by looking here. Blessings to each of you!

Rotate Your Stamps

Most of you have probably seen the new Memory Box Tinsel Collection by now.  A new collection means new stamps.  With new stamps and new collections brings new storage issues.  It's certainly a good thing but I finally figured out how to rotate my Memory Box stamps.  I am loving this idea, and I thought I would share it with you!

First, someone shared their idea of keeping their Glimmer Mist on an acrylic nail polish stand. It looked super pretty with all of the colors on the stand but I already have storage for my Glimmer Mist.  I certainly loved the idea of using the acrylic stand for something though! So, I bought one, it arrived, and I immediately knew it would be perfect for my Memory Box stamps. I am going to use this unit to rotate current holiday stamps.  Right now I will keep out all of the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas stamps.  Then as I start working with Valentine's, Easter, and Spring stamps, I will put those on this unit, and I will put the Fall/Winter holiday stamps up in my stamp boxes.  This way the stamps I am using the most will be easily accessible!  Here is what the stand looks like with the current holiday stamps on display:


  
And here is how it looks from the back as I see it from my office desk:

 
I think it even looks pretty from the back!  Look at all of that awesome Memory Box rubber! :)  I really love this, and it will be great to have all of my current Memory Box holiday stamps out and easy to use!  So, get those Memory Box holiday stamps out!  They even will decorate your space a bit for the season!  A double bonus!!!!  Enjoy!
  

Save an Inch {Swatches}

If you remember, back in April 2009, I posted how I made a swatchbook of my Memory Box cardstock colors.  If you missed that post, you can see it here.  And just an aside--wow, have I been with Memory Box for almost 1 1/2 years now?  Gracious, I am more than blessed!  Thank you, Dave!!!!!  Anyway, I love keeping all of my swatches for inks, Stickles, paints, etc., in a small 7"x9" notebook. So, I decided to create new "swatchbook pages" containing 3/4" swatches of all of the Memory Box cardstock to keep in my book with my other product swatches.

To begin, I created a file in Microsoft Excel in both 5 1/2"x8 1/2" pages and 8 1/2"x11" pages so that each of you could choose what you would like to use.  Yes, I am going to make the file available to you in this post. :)  I printed the file on white cardstock, and here is what the smaller page looks like before adding the swatches:

 
This sheet was then cut in half.  I punched 3/4" squares out of all of the cardstock colors I have here at the house.  Then I used a Glue Dot to adhere the swatches to the appropriate color block.

 
And here are how my pages turned out:

 
Aren't they pretty? I just LOVE a page full of color!  And then I created an 8 1/2"x11" sheet too.  Here is what the larger sheets look like:

 
Here is the file if you would like to use it for yourself.  The file contains both the half sheets and the full sheet so you can use whichever you like.

Download Memory Box Paper Swatches
 
I hope you enjoyed this and find the file helpful. Please do not distribute this file.  You can certainly link others to this post but please don't distribute the file itself. I truly appreciate it!  And remember, don't throw away those Memory Box cardstock scraps!  Save an inch for your color swatch page!  Have a great day!

Use Your Memory Box CS for a Reference Book!

Memory Box cardstock is not only amazing for cards, layouts, and other paper crafting projects, but it is also perfect for making a reference book!  You are probably wondering what kind of reference book!  Well, if you have seen my last few posts about embossing and sanding Memory Box cardstock, you can use that same technique to make a reference book of all of your embossing folders!  It works perfectly!  Here is what I did.

First I cut a lot of 2 1/4" square pieces of Memory Box cardstock. Memory Box cardstock is perfect because it has a white core. The white core shows your embossing beautifully after sanding. I used scraps from my scrap box. You will want to use fairly dark paper so your embossing shows up after sanding too. The colors scraps I had on hand were Memory Box vanilla bean, dill, sapphire, and blueberry.  These colors worked really well!

 
Then I quickly ran the paper scraps and all of my embossing folders and plates through my Big Shot. I did this for each embossing folder or plate that I have (Cuttlebug, Sizzix, and SU). After I embossed a piece, I used my sanding block to sand the piece of paper. I then mounted each sample on a piece of printer paper, wrote the embossing folder name down, and put it in my reference binder. Here are a few samples pages of how they turned out:  


  
Doesn't the Memory Box cardstock work perfectly?  And imagine how pretty those embossed papers would be on your creations!  I hope you will use your Memory Box scraps to make a reference book. And be sure to save a piece of all of your Memory Box cardstock to make a swatch book too!  That really comes in handy. Here is my post about my Memory Box swatch book!

Thanks for stopping by, and see you again soon!  

Organize Your Memory Box Stamps!

Okay, today is sort of a fluff post but do you have a great way to store all of your Memory Box stamps?  When I moved into my new room recently, I needed a new way to store my Memory Box stamps.  So, today, I thought I would share how I store all them just in case you are flooded in Memory Box and can't find what you are looking for! :)

First, I sorted all of my Memory Box stamps into categories.  They are:
**Backgrounds
**Birds
**Butterflies
**Floral
**Holiday
**Sentiments
**Trees

 
Then I purchased boxes that would fit on top of my crafting unit.  My new room is pink, brown, and green so these boxes were perfect.  They didn't make green boxes so I used green patterned paper for the box labels.  After putting the labels on the boxes, I organized the stamps in each box.

 
Next, I put the boxes in alphabetical order on top of my crafting unit.  Now all my Memory Box stamps are easy to get to and easy to find! Plus the boxes look pretty in my room. :)

Storage Boxes:  Sizzix
Crafting Unit: Scrap 'n Cube
Labeler: Brother P-touch 
 
This storage method for my Memory Box stamps is working great for me, and I can easily find what I am looking for. There are lots of different boxes that would work for this--photo boxes, clear plastic boxes, covered wicker baskets, etc.  Find what works for you.  I hope this is helpful to you, and gives you some ideas so that you can easily find that special Memory Box stamp you are looking for!  Have a wonderful Thursday, and thanks for stopping by!
  

Fill Your Binder with {Clear Stamps}

So, did you finish your stamp binder?  I hope you did.  What size binder did you use?  I know a lot of people use an 8 1/2 x 11 inch binder.  I think my smaller one will work for me for now, and I am glad I could use a binder that was just sitting around.  Here is my binder in case you missed it from my last post:

Today I want to show you how I have organized my clear stamps.  First, I know a lot of people laminate a piece of cardstock and just stick their stamps to that page; however, I really wanted to keep the nice sleeves that the Memory Box stamps come in.  They also have the nice black outline of the stamps making it so easy to see against a piece of white cardstock.  This option is also cheaper because you don't have to pay for laminate!  Anyway, I took the clear packaging the stamps come in, and I stuck several glue dots to the back of the plastic.  You can see that here:

Then I cut a bunch of 6x6 white cardstock and stuck each set to a single piece of the cardstock.  After attaching to the cardstock, I wrote the name of the set on the white cardstock, and slipped the set into the page protector.  Here is what it looks like:
 
 
I then store them in alphabetical order by set name.  This is working great for me.  I hope it helps you organize those new Memory Box clear sets!  Enjoy, and see you next time!

Let's Make a Stamp Binder!

Okay, so by now you are probably collecting all of the new and fun Memory Box Clear Set stamps!  I haven't had a lot of clear stamps in the past, and I need a way to organize them.  So, I thought we could do that over the next couple of days--organize our Memory Box clear stamps. :)

For today we are going to create our binder.  Now you can use any binder you wish, and you can even use one that does not need to be decorated.  I, of course, love altering things so I chose to use an old American Crafts 6x6 Modern album.  It has been sitting around so I thought it would be perfect for my clear stamps!  Since I don't have a lot of clear stamps, this size will work great for me but a lot of people use an 8 1/2 x 11" binder.

First, I picked my paper to put on the cover.  Since the cover is larger than 6x6 and I am using Memory Box Poppyfinch 6x6 papers, I had to paint the edges of my binder.  You can see in the picture below that the paint looks lighter on the right than it does on the bottom of the binder.  That is because I covered the paint with Twinkling H20s to tone down the paint a bit.  I wanted you to see the contrast before I finished painting.

Also, if you notice, I got a bit of paint on the fabric at the bottom left.  No problem! It will be covered with ribbon. :)   Next, I put a bunch of adhesive on the back of my Memory Box Poppyfinch paper.  Yes, I want it to stick well.

After sticking the paper to the binder, I covered it with a thin coat of Modge Podge.  This will be handled a lot so I wanted a nice sealant on the binder.  Note, I did not put Modge Podge on the fabric, and it is still a bit wet in this photo so you can see a bit of white in places.  That all dries clear.

And here is what my finished binder looks like (and this is the true color; the photos above are a bit dark):
 
Album:  Amercian Crafts 6x6 Modern album
Papers:  Memory Box Co. Poppyfinch
Paints:  Making Memories deep sea, LuminArte H2Os icicles
Embellishments:  Bazzill ribbon, Basic Grey chipboard mini monos, Rose Moka alphas

Notice how the ribbon and chipboard letter cover the paint mistake from above?  And now you can see why I picked such a darker teal paint for the edges--I pulled that color from the paper.  I like how it turned out. I hope you do too.

Now I would love for you to create your binder and share it here!  Leave a link in the comment section so we all can see.  Next post, I will show you how to organize your Memory Box clear stamps in your new binder.  Have fun creating!